As high-speed information networks have been developed in recent years, large numbers of terminals with a communication function have come to be connected to each other through information networks. Information mediation systems which obtain specified information from many terminals through this sort of information network have developed methods whereby a beneficiary initially records with the mediator what categories or types of information he desires. The mediator then extracts from the extensive data sent by the many providers only that information which matches the categories or types selected by the beneficiary and sends that information to him. In other words, when the beneficiary records with the mediator which categories or types of information he wishes to be sent to him, he enables the mediation to occur. However, in prior art information mediation systems, the portions of the expenses to be borne by the persons providing the information and the persons using the information were fixed. The mediator was not free to reassign providers or beneficiaries according to the categories and types of information selected. Thus separate information mediation systems had to be constructed at great expense for each category or type of information. In addition, everyone who purchased information mediation had to pay the same fixed charge.
FIG. 32 illustrates problems that will occur in the future as more and more information terminals are connected to a network. The item labeled “networked terminal 3210” in the drawing is a prior art terminal connected to a network. Typically, this would be a personal computer or a portable communication device (i.e., a cell phone or a mobile communication terminal). These are devices which the person himself directly operates. Despite much discussion of the “net society” of the future, the total number of such devices will not exceed several times the figure for the population.
The item labeled “networked sensing device” 3201 is a device with a sensing function which is connected to a network. The term “equipment” in “equipment data sensor” 2302, which is one of the devices under this rubric, refers to an apparatus which is fixed in place (i.e., permanently installed) to achieve a given objective. For example, this might be an automatic vending machine, a machine in a factory, or a machine installed outdoors, on a street or bridge. The “equipment data sensor” is a device which acquires data concerning these types of equipment. Such an equipment data sensor may in some cases itself be connected to a network. The item labeled “home data sensor” 3203 is a device which can acquire sensor data concerning a home. Such sensors might be used on what are sometimes called “information” home electronics (which are connected to a network): the TV, the radio, the refrigerator, the air conditioner, etc., or on home equipment which responds to commands transmitted through a network: doors, windows, ventilation fans, the gas, the water, etc. The item referred to as “automotive data sensor” 3204 is any device which collects data from a sensor in a car. In some cases it may refer to the car itself which is connected to the network. So when we compare the potential number of these devices with that of networked terminals 3210, whose potential number does not exceed several times that of the population, we see that there is a vast potential for many more networked sensing devices 3201 to be used in the future. Since such sensors can be used without wiring in all kinds of systems, machines and equipment, their potential number has no relationship with population figures.
It is already possible to use individual communication devices on each of the various sensors and components that are used in many systems. For example, it is already possible to put a communication device on each of the various sensors in a vending machine. To monitor the state of the machine, the signals from the various sensors are sent to a control center via a dedicated line or a PHS.
The salient point here is that in the future, when the current network to which networked terminals 3210 are connected gives way to a network to which various sensing devices 3201 are connected, the number of devices referred to as networked sensing devices 3201 will be vastly greater than the number of devices connected to networked terminals 3210. To put it another way, although it is true that there are many, many networked terminals, their potential number (because they are used by individuals) cannot exceed several for each person; hence the total would be several times the number of people in the population. In contrast, networked sensing devices are not used directly by individuals, so their potential number is arguably much greater. (It has been estimated to be at the very least ten or more times the population.) If individual sensors are connected to the network, their potential number will in fact be unlimited.
In the near future, then, when large numbers of these networked sensing devices 3201 come into use, there will be a need for some sort of traffic control to manage and make use of their data. One actual scheme to deal with this problem is the “information mediation” which is the main point of this invention. How to manage a fee system for the various data obtained by data devices, including networked sensing devices, will be complicated as the numbers of such devices explode in the future, as was discussed above. Many believe that a number of different fee systems will be needed. There can be no doubt that the current relationship, in which one terminal furnishes data and another terminal uses it, will give way to one in which the same terminal can be the provider or the beneficiary. Thus managing payment for data will also require traffic control. One actual scheme to deal with this is the “fee mediation” which is another of the main objectives of this invention.
FIG. 5 illustrates the problem areas which arise in transferring information between providers and beneficiaries. When, as has been discussed, more and more terminals with a communication capability are connected to each other through a network, there will be a problem 0501 of lack of awareness of beneficiaries who would recognize the value of the information. In other words, the provider does not know who the people (or, in this invention, the equipment or devices) are who see the information he is providing as valuable (recognizing the value of the information is equivalent to being willing to pay for it) and desire to have it. There is also a problem 0502 of the provider being in the dark as to what the beneficiary regards as valuable. Even if the provider knows who the people who want information are, he still hasn't a clue as to what they value or what they want.
Problem 0503 is the intermixture of valuable and worthless information. This refers to providing information to a customer without realizing its value (although the customer does), or to the provider not knowing that the same information can have a different value (either higher or lower) to different customers. Problem 0504 is the lack of established rules to compensate providers. This means that because the seller, as was discussed above, does not understand the value of the information for which he is supposed to compensate providers according to the value it has for the customers, he cannot determine what an appropriate compensation (i.e., compensation to the providers) would be. The problem does not disappear if the providers and beneficiaries are linked through a network, which is, after all, merely a means or tool to transmit information. The question which is central for this invention is: what is the principle or concept that will determine how the links between providers and beneficiaries will be made use of?
As was explained in the aforesaid FIG. 32, the society of the future will have networked sensing devices in numbers so vast that there can be no comparison with the number of networked terminals that exist today. In this future society, there will be a need for traffic control to organize the information from all these networked sensors and make the maximum use of it. The information mediation system according to this invention is a system to control the traffic of this information and by so doing impart an added value to it and set the charge for that added value.